Extended Producer Responsibility Commission’s work progresses

The state’s Extended Producer Responsibility Commission has completed four of its six scheduled meetings as it works toward making recommendations for EPR policies to the Legislature.

Established by a clean energy law enacted last November, the Extended Producer Responsibility Commission is responsible for making recommendations for five main categories of items: paint, mattresses, batteries, electronics, and plastics and packaging. Thus far, the commission has met and discussed recommendations for paint, mattresses and batteries.

EPR reduces adverse health, safety and environmental impacts from products and packaging throughout the lifecycle of products, from the point of manufacturing to the eventual disposal or recycling. This “product stewardship” process also creates certain economic benefits, as manufacturers and retailers seek to ensure that their products have maximum value and minimal impact throughout their lifecycles.

According to the Product Stewardship Institute, extended producer responsibility “includes, at a minimum, the requirement that the producer’s responsibility for their product extends to post-consumer management of that product and its packaging.”

The MMA has supported EPR as a way of shifting responsibility for difficult-to-manage products — such as paint, mattresses, electronics, and packaging and paper — to retailers and manufacturers, rather than municipalities.

On June 30, the commission sent a letter to the Legislature recommending passage of an extended producer responsibility law for paint. The letter provides background information on paint recycling and statistics related to unwanted, unused paint in Massachusetts. An estimated 1.8 million gallons of leftover paint is generated each year in Massachusetts, with 67% of it discarded either in a landfill or combustion facility, according to the letter.

An extended producer responsibility framework for paint could help to capture leftover paint for recycling, a practice currently in place in several New England states. The recycling program most extensively researched by the commission, PaintCare, had collected nearly 80 million gallons of paint, with a recycling rate greater than 80%, the letter states.

The commission is expected to send additional recommendations to the Legislature.

The next commission meetings are scheduled for Sept. 17 at 9:30 a.m., on the topic of electronics, and Oct. 29 at 9:30 a.m. on the topic of plastics and packaging.

Two advisory groups have been meeting throughout the summer to discuss these two topics, which were identified by commission members as the most complicated, with additional information requested.

Comments on extended producer responsibility and the work of the commission can be submitted through the Massachusetts Commission on Extended Producer Responsibility Comment Portal.

In May, the MMA submitted comments in support of the various extended producer responsibility bills that were heard by the Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources. Since that hearing, at least one bill in each of the primary EPR material categories — paint, mattresses, batteries, electronics, and plastics and packaging — obtained a favorable report and was sent to an additional committee for review.